--- title: Babies Cry More in Canada, U.K., Italy Than Other Countries description: Babies in some countries do cry more than babies in others: Researchers found they cry the most in the U.K., Canada and Italy. canonical: https://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-03T15:14:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:10:11.031Z article:section: Health og:title: Babies in These Countries Cry the Most, Study Finds og:description: A new study looks at the prevalence of colic in thousands of infants og:url: https://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b2208baf177f921/6988c0eddcd4a1528a07518f/babies-cry-more-uk-italy-canada-colic-new-study.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: babies cry more uk italy canada colic new study og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Babies in These Countries Cry the Most, Study Finds twitter:description: A new study looks at the prevalence of colic in thousands of infants twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b2208baf177f921/6988c0eddcd4a1528a07518f/babies-cry-more-uk-italy-canada-colic-new-study.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Babies in These Countries Cry the Most, Study Finds  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 3, 2017 3:14 PM CUT  Colorful interior of nursery. Frontal view. 3d render. Colorful interior of nursery. Frontal view. 3d render.poligonchik—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 3, 2017 3:14 PM CUT Babies cry more in the U.K., Canada and Italy than they do in other countries, while babies in Denmark, Germany and Japan cry the least, a [new study](http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476%2817%2930218-4/pdf "undefined") has found. Authors of [the study](http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476%2817%2930218-4/pdf "undefined") in[ _The_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-babies-idUSKBN1750MZ "undefined")[ _Journal of Pediatrics_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-babies-idUSKBN1750MZ "undefined")compared the prevalence of [colic](http://time.com/4636204/acupuncture-baby-crying-colic/ "undefined") — defined as [crying](http://time.com/4472771/why-its-hard-to-ignore-crying-baby/?xid=homepage "undefined") more than 3 hours per day for at least three days per week — in babies during their first 12 weeks of life in different countries around the world, [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-babies-idUSKBN1750MZ "undefined") [reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-babies-idUSKBN1750MZ "undefined"). “Babies are already very different in how much they cry in the first weeks of life,” Dieter Wolker, one of the study’s authors, [told Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-babies-idUSKBN1750MZ "undefined"). The research team gathered data from other studies on crying duration for almost 8,700 infants to determine how prevalent colic is in babies. In the U.K., [28% of babies](http://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476%2817%2930218-4/pdf "undefined") 1 to 2 weeks old had colic, for example, while the average prevalence for that age was only 17.4%. And 34.1% of babies in Canada had colic at 3 to 4 weeks, while the average percentage was 18.4%. On the other hand, the study found 6.7% of babies in Denmark at 5 to 6 weeks had colic, much lower than the average 25.1% for that age. The study did not determine a reason for the variation in crying time by country, but the scientists said there should be more research into potential cultural and genetic influences. \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-babies-idUSKBN1750MZ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/"},"headline":"Babies in These Countries Cry the Most, Study Finds","datePublished":"2017-04-03T15:14:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:10:11.031Z","description":"A new study looks at the prevalence of colic in thousands of infants","url":"https://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/","keywords":["Research","Children","Babies","health","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b2208baf177f921/6988c0eddcd4a1528a07518f/babies-cry-more-uk-italy-canada-colic-new-study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b2208baf177f921/6988c0eddcd4a1528a07518f/babies-cry-more-uk-italy-canada-colic-new-study.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"babies cry more uk italy canada colic new study","caption":"babies cry more uk italy canada colic new study","creditText":"poligonchik—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4722784/study-babies-cry-most-canada-uk/","name":"Babies in These Countries Cry the Most, Study Finds"}}]}] ```